Substitute
by Maakason
Summary: When Damon knocked on Alaric's door, he sure as hell hadn't expected to see this...


**Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries**

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><p>'Crap'. Alaric thought as he saw Damon walk through the entrance of the Mystic Grill.<p>

Just his luck. After what had happened earlier he'd hoped that he could at least avoid Damon and hide out in the Grill and have a drink. Ugghhh. He groaned as the memories of this morning popped into his head:

_Alaric woke with a start as he heard a loud, insistant pounding on the door. He groaned, slowly making his way out of bed to the door. He opened it, prepared to give whoever it was a friendly F.U, but stopped dead in his tracks when he realized who it was._

_"Damon?" He said, clearly confused._

_"What's up?"_

_Damon gave his trademark smirk and was just opening his mouth when an arm snaked its way around Alaric's torso. Slowly, Damon looked up at the figure that was now towering over a very red faced Alaric. The stranger was attractive, but Damon also noticed something...familiar about him. It didn't take too long to figure out as the stranger came into full view. With his dark hair, medium build, and stunning blue eyes, he coud be Damon's long lost relative or something._

_"Hey," The man said with an all too familiar grin on his handsome features._

_"You must be a friend of Alaric's." He stuck out a hand._

_"I'm Ian. It's nice to meet you."_

"Aghhh!" Alaric groaned again.

He'd comepletly forgotten that he had company. It had been very embarrassing. After politly introducing himself-which was weird enough- Damon had excused himself, saying that he'd talk to Alaric later. At the time Alaric had been unable to do much but nod, still in a daze at the surrealness of the day that had just barely started. Though as he sat there, he couldn't help but remember-in a daze or not- the strange look that had crossed Damon's face when Ian had wrapped himself around him.

Suddenly, Damon started to make his way towards him. Alaric sighed. He didn't have time to be worried about glances that probably meant nothing. What he really needed to know was whether or not Damon had a problem with him being gay. And if he had noticed the...similarities between him and Ian. He hoped not.

...

When Damon noticed Alaric sitting at the bar as he entered the Grill, he seriously considered walking out. But he was Damon Salvatore and avoided no one. So he made sure to sit on the other side of the bar.

Unbeknownst to Alaric, Damon had noticed the eerie similarities between himself and the stranger. But that wasn't what Damon was worried about. He wasn't concerned that Alaric's boyfriend was practically his doppelganger. Hell, he didn't even care that Alaric had a _boy_friend. He had way more important things on his mind to worry about. Like why his stomach had been doing flips lately whenever he was around Alaric. Or even more importantly, why when he saw that loser glued to Ric he felt like he'd been staked right in the chest. Damon glanced over at Alaric. He became concerned when he noticed the troubled look on his face; curious when the look deepened as Damon walked towards him. When he finally reached Alaric, Damon sat down in the seat beside him, giving him one of his most charming smiles.

"Someone had a great night I assume." he joked lightheartedly, trying to get Alaric to understand that he was okay with him being gay.

Alaric let out a relieved, only slightly embarrassed chuckle. Just like that the tension dissipated and they began talking as usual. Until Ian walked through the door.

...

Ian walked in, and was about to call out to Alaric but stopped short when he noticed how Ric and the man from earlier today-Damon right?-were talking. They seemed so relaxed around each other and Ian was a little hesitant to break the mood- like he would be interrupting something private. Just as he was contemplating turning around, Damon happened to look over and caught his eye. Ian took a startled step back.

When he met Damon's eyes it seemed that for a split second his whole face had changed. This look of almost murderous intent was on his face. It shook him up so bad that he almost ran out the door right then and there. But then Alaric turned around and, as he spotted him, began waving him over. He warily approached the two and cast a quick glance at Damon but whatever he had thought he'd seen was gone.

...

Damon studied Ian silently as he and Ric began to converse. Damon didn't have a problem with Ric being gay. But why he would pick such a loser as a partner was beyond him. Ric was a good guy. He was a great friend. He deserved better than this clown.

He deserved someone who knew about his double life as a vampire hunter. Someone who could handle him, and sympathize with him. someone like-

'Who?' his mind teased

'Someone like you?'

He was thankfully saved from any further thoughts by the loser- as Damon now dubbed him-who had just aked him a question.

"I'm sorry" Damon said putting on a charming smile.

The one he usually wore right before he snapped someone's neck.

" Did you say something?"

"Yea" Ian nodded.

"I was just thinking that you should join me and Alaric later tonight. We're going to meet over here to have a little something to eat. You could bring a date too if you'd like."

Alaric spoke up before Damon could reply.

"You don't have to," he glared at Ian.

" I'm sure Damon has other things to-"

"No, actually I'm free."

It was Damon's turn to interupt.

"I would love to join you guys for dinner. I'll even bring a date."

He looked directly at Ian, pointedly ignoring Alaric.

"What time did you want to meet?"

...

Hours later Alaric was sitting at a table instead of at the bar-for once- wondering how exactly this was happening to him.

' What did I ever do to you?' he silently thought to god, looking up at the ceiling bitterly.

He was cut out of his sulking with a sudden kiss on his cheek. He looked over, a little shocked to find piercing blue eyes so close to his, before he realized they belonged to Ian.

'Of course,' he thought

'Who else would they belong to?'

He scooted over in his booth so that Ian could sit beside him.

"Hey babe."

Ian smiled down at him as he prepared to take his seat. He looked around briefly.

"Where's Damon?" he questioned.

Alaric sighed.

"No clue."

Secretly he was a little glad that Damon wasn't there. Hopefully he wouldn't show up at all.

'The last thing I want is to have to look at Damon mooning over some gorgeous chick all night' he thought.

He didn't want to admit it, but just by looking at Ian you could tell that he had it in for Damon and he had it bad. These feelings had surfaced months ago, and he'd been trying to ignore them evr since, but lately it was getting really hard.

"...even listening to me?"

He looked up , finally tuning in long enough to realize that Ian had been talking to him-apparently, by the slightly annoyed look on his face, for awhile now.

"I'm sorry." he apologized hastily.

"My mind's just somewhere else right now"

"Or on someone else," Ian muttered to himself.

"What?" Alaric said, starting to get a little annoyed himself.

"Nothing," Ian said curtly."It's just.." he hesitated slightly.

"Is there something going on between you and Damon that I should know about?"

Alaric looked guilty for a split second but quickly smoothed out his facial expression to look mutual.

"Of course not," he laughed a little nervously.

"We're just good friends. Thats it. That's all. Promise."

Ian looked a little dubious but all the same smiled at Alaric saying "ok." As Ian resumed talking, Alaric felt himself once again drifting off to different thoughts.

He scolded himself silently. Ian was a great guy and he was ruining what they had over a stupid crush. He shook himself out of his reverie more firmly this time and tried his hardest to tune into what Ian was saying. He was just begining to enjoy himself when Damon walked in.

...

Or he should say he didn't see Damon first but rather he saw his date-with damon right in tow. Out of habbit, Alaric's eyes lingered on Damon before he got a really good look at his date. After a few seconds he finally did focus his gaze on the person Damon was leading towards them. Alaric blinked. Then looked a little harder. His jaw nearly dropped to the floor as he observed Damon's date.

He had to admit that one thing that shocked him was that it was most definately a guy Damon had his arm draped over. But what really got him was his appearance.

Tall, a little taller than Damon himself. With his sandy blonde hair, boyish looks, and brown eyes, he was almost a perfect match for Alaric. They could've been brothers.

"Hey," Damon approached the table looking pretty smug with himself.

"I'd like to introduce you to someone. This is Matthew."

The familiar stranger approached the table. "It's nice to meet you."

He put out a hand for Alaric and then Ian to shake. Alaric smiled uncertainly at him then pulled Damon a little a way from their dates.

"What are you doing?" he demanded.

Damon gave him a smile, feigning innocence.

"What are you talking about? I'm just trying to enjoy a double date here."

"Then who is that?" He guestured towards Damon's...friend.

Damon gave him a patronizing look, as though he was talking to a child.

"He's my date Rick. I'd have thought that would've been obvious."

"Yea, but you're not gay!" Alaric blurted out, exasperated. " You can't be gay!"

"Well Rick," Damon put a fake look of hurt on his face.

"That sounds a little hypocritical considering how I found you earlier today." Damon sounded almost accusing.

He released Alaric's grip from his arm. Alaric tried to keep him from moving, but he may as well've been resisting stone. Damon walked back over to their abandoned dates. Alaric silently followed, throwing a suspicious glare at him.

What was he up to?

...

They all sat down, Ian and Alaric on one side, Damon and Matthew on the other. As they ordered their food, things began to calm down a bit but there was still an obvious tension between everyone. More specifically, there was still tension between Damon and Alaric. The table was pretty quiet in an akward sort of way, and Alaric was in the middle of planning his escape when Ian began to speak.

"Why didn't you order anything?"

Everyone at the table looked at him, startled. It took a second fo them to realize he was talking to Damon. The vampire in question was also a little taken back by the unexpected question but recovered quickly.

"Oh I'm not hungry. I'm on a...special diet." he replied amused by his own joke.

Everyone at the table looked a little confused at that-everyone except Alaric. He smiled knowingly at Damon who also smiled at him. They sat there grinning at each other like fools until both of their dates cleared their throats. Snapping out of the moment, Alaric avoided looking at Ian and instead turned his attension to Matthew.

" So Matthew," he started conversationally."What do you do for a living?"

Matthew, who hadn't expected the spotlight to be thrust on him so suddenly looked a little shy, but didn't have to worry about saying anything as Damon interrupted him.

"Matt is a writer," Damon said a little smugly. "Hes very talented. One of his stories is going to be made into a movie. It should be out next summer."

Matthew looked a little embarrassed but said nothing. Damon smiled at him and then turned to Alaric with that smug look still glued on his face. His smile seemed to be taunting Alaric, saying

'What can yours do?'

Alaric, who at this time was getting little ticked, wasn't about to be one uped by some 'writer' he'd never even heard of. He decided he didn't really like Matt.

"Well you know." Alaric said smoothly "Ian here is an actor. A pretty good one too. He's even going to be on a show soon. It's called 'The Vampire Journals. Him and this other guy are gonna be playing two vampires, the Talvasore brothers. It's expected to be a hit on wc."

'An actor' Damon thought in disgust.

No wonder he didn't like him. And please. A show about vampires? _HE_ was a vampire and he could promise you he'd never be interested in that kind of show. And anyway, what kind of name was that? Talvasore? Is that supposed to be foreign or something?

"Well did I forget to mention that Matt here went to Oxford. Graduated top of his class."

"Well Ian here," Alaric took a small sip of his drink. "Went to Yale and graduated top of his class too."

Damon's eyes narrowed.

"Matt can play the violin."

"Ian can play the piano."

"Matt is a kickass cook."

"Ian is a brilliant artist."

At this point their voices began to rise.

"Matt can play baseball."

"Ian can play soccar."

"Matt likes to mountain climb."

"Well Ian lets me climb him."

Alaric reveled in the stunned silence around the table as what he said started to sink in.

'I win' he thought to himself.

"Well Matt here," Damon twisted Matthew's head to the side, exposing his neck and the little puncture marks there. " likes to be bit. And," he gessured to his own neck. " is a biter himself."

His neck didn't have a mark on it, but given his fast healing that didn't mean a thing. It was impossible to tell if he was lying or not, but why would he lie about that?

Alaric recalled the many drunken conversations he'd had with Damon. The one he was thinking of had been about sharing blood. About how taking blood from a human you were intimate with is one thing, but letting them take blood from you was a whole 'nother ballgame.

_'It's the ultimate declaration of trust.' Damon had said having drunk one too many about five shots ago._

_'Do you ever think you'll be that close to someone?' Alaric had asked trying to sound casual. In reality he was nervous, both fearing and anticipating the answer he would recieve._

_Damon seemed to consider it for a second. He stared at him, and Alaric had to hold his breath as he felt Damon's stare pierce his very soul._

_'I don't know' Damon said finally, turning to the table to pour another drink. ' Maybe one day, huh?'_

_Alaric breathed out a relieved sigh, vaguely dissapointed._

_'Yea. One day.'_

Now, Alaric stood up slowly, hurt by what Damon had inferred about just how deep his relationship with Matthew was.

"Well then," he said softly "I guess you win. Congratulations Damon."

He walked out of the Grill, vision blurring with tears. Damon immediately got up to go after him. At the same time Ian got up too. Damon fixed a glare on him, stopping Ian in his tracks.

"Stay here," Damon snarled.

Ian looked at him defiantly.

"Or what?"

Damon, who had had it up to here with this loser, slowly turned to face him, his facial features morphing into the true hunter and natural born killer he was.

" You take one step from this seat-and trust me when I say I'll know if you do-and I'll rip your god damn throat out."

He walked out of the door and Ian was smart enough to stay put.

...

It didn't take too long to find him. He was huddled in a corner trying to pull himself together. Damon stooped down in front of him, gently prying his hands away from his face.

"Ric," he said softly "It was a lie. Please believe me. I...I'd never do that with him."

Alaric finally looked up, eyes red, face tearstained.

"Then why would you say something like that?"

Damon leaned closer to Alaric, his lips pressed against Alarics ear.

"I don't know why," he admitted truthfully. "All I know is that I've been feeling something different for you for a while now, and from the minute I saw that loser put his arm around you, I've wanted nothing more than to rip his head off."

He pulled away a little so that he was face to face with Alaric.

"I like you alaric. A lot. Bringing Matt here, saying that we'd...," he looked down feeling guilty for the first time in years, maybe even in his life.

"I was just trying to make you jealous. I'm sorry."

Alaric stared at him in wonder. He brought up his hand to tilt Damon's head up, making their eyes meet.

"I like you a lot too Damon." Alaric whispered, smiling softly, and Damon just couldnt control himself anymore.

He leaned closer to Alaric and pressed his lips to his. Alaric brought his arms up to wrap them around Damon's neck, pulling him closer. He parted his lips and Damon took that as an invitation to explore his mouth with his tongue. Alaric moaned into the kiss but stopped abruptly, pushing Damon away.

"Whats wrong?" Damon panted.

Damon's eyes had gone dark with lust and he looked like he was going to jump Alaric at any given moment, which made him shiver in anticapation but he shook it off.

"What about them?" he guestured to the Grill.

'Oh.'

Damon had all but forgotten that they both had dates waiting for them to return.

"What about them?" he scoffed leaning in for another kiss which Alaric allowed for a few seconds before pulling away again.

"Damon," he said sternly.

Damon sighed and stood up, pulling Alaric with him.

"Okay," he said surrendering. "Lets go."

Alaric stalled for a second.

"Wait. What are we going to tell them?" he said worried.

Damon smiled and pulled him in for another kiss.

"The truth. I'm a vampire, you're a vampire hunter, and we just happened to fall for each other."

Alaric laughed as they entered the restaurant.

'The truth' he thought, feeling happy for the first time all day.

'Right.'

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><p><strong>(Wipes sweat from brow with a tissue.) Jizz, this story came out longer than i thought it would. (not that i'm complaining.) well im gonna go remove the tape from my eyelids and finally get some sleep! i'll be dreaming of getting awesome reviews! (hint, hint) even if you dont review i appreciate all my readers out there for even looking at this story. your encouragement has given me the will power to try and improve my slash writing!...but not tonight! goodnight all you slash fanatics out there! (...zzzz)<strong>


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